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This, right here, is why I have no qualms installing Adblock Edge and insisting that my parents (and anyone else who isn't very tech-savvy) do the same. It's n

This, right here, is why I have no qualms installing Adblock Edge and insisting that my parents (and anyone else who isn't very tech-savvy) do the same. It's not about not wanting to support independent bloggers. It's about making sure that unsuspecting users don't accidentally download malware when they're doing something mundane like downloading their web browser. In the age of the web, Adblock is the new anti-virus.

brador 12y ago
It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks).
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  > It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. > Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). I've lost track of who is trying to scam who. The users are collateral damage anyway.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    > Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. That's because people in general don't mind wasting a bit of screen space but the mandatory wasting of time is of a completely different order. Time is our most precious capital.
  - on_and_off 12y ago
    I don't mind the 30 seconds ads (to be fair in my area very few video ads are unskippable on Youtube). I consider these ads the price to pay for a free video website like Youtube. I could even consider paying to remove ads in Google products (or for something like Google Play Music Unlimited that also remove ads on Youtube now that it will be used for music as well). I use uBlock though in order to remove the numerous popup/popunder ads on some websites. These are just a pain in the ass without any justification (and most of the time are tied to suspicious offers).
    - TeMPOraL 12y ago
      I do mind them, because the most common use I have for YouTube is background music and short clips. A song is usually 3-4 minutes long, which makes the ad 12-16% as long as the content. Clips are even shorter, and the very disruption of my state of mind is annoying.
- untog 12y ago
  (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). Of course, go back a year or so and everyone was screaming at ad providers for using blocking JavaScript.
  - zo1 12y ago
    And what is stopping them from having the placeholders a specific size, instead of expanding them when the javascript finally loads/starts up? If that sort of thing was unfeasible to do then fine, I'll give you your point. But they have no excuse. So they're either just too lazy to do it properly (and enjoy the nice mis-clicks on ads) or they just like the mis-clicks on ads and did it purposefully.
    - untog 12y ago
      I'm not familiar with the systems, but I imagine that not knowing the eventual size of the ad would prohibit that. Or the fact that you'd have to have the user insert some HTML alongside your currently very simple <script> entry.
      - brador 12y ago
        Most likely A/B testing showed increased revenue on the page when they did the slimy javascript jump.
fragsworth 12y ago
It's definitely the people who are least inclined to install an ad blocker that could use it most. On the other hand, it takes a long time, but they do learn to be more cynical about the Internet if they're exposed to its raw state.
- chatmasta 12y ago
  It takes less than sixty seconds and requires nothing more than installing a browser extension.
  - msabalau 12y ago
    The people who most need to do this don't know what a "browser" is, much less an "extension".
    - hashmymustache 12y ago
      And are still paying for AOL as it's the only way to get on the internet.
  - radicaledward 12y ago
    I think they meant that it takes the users a long time to learn to be cynical.
    - chatmasta 12y ago
      This is a good point. I often take for granted how quickly I can recognize advertisement from non advertisement. I attribute most of it to spending my early days on the Internet reading marketing forums and running ad campaigns myself. Nowadays marketing is very subtle. Often you find yourself reading content and don't even realize somebody paid for that content to build their brand, drive traffic, etc. Look at recipe sites for example. If you watch your ad blocker count the ads, recipe sites always have one of the highest numbers. Who would ever think that if they didn't know what to look for? My rule of thumb is "if nobody would write this without getting paid for it, then somebody probably got paid for it."

brador 12y ago

It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks).

TeMPOraL 12y ago
> It's the 30 second youtube ads that finally got me to install adblock again after 3 years without. Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. > Also the javascript late load "oops click" tricks they're pulling to scam advertisers now (google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). I've lost track of who is trying to scam who. The users are collateral damage anyway.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > Same here. I couldn't be bothered to install AdBlock for many years, but the mandatory before-video ads were the straw that broke the camel's back for me. That's because people in general don't mind wasting a bit of screen space but the mandatory wasting of time is of a completely different order. Time is our most precious capital.
- on_and_off 12y ago
  I don't mind the 30 seconds ads (to be fair in my area very few video ads are unskippable on Youtube). I consider these ads the price to pay for a free video website like Youtube. I could even consider paying to remove ads in Google products (or for something like Google Play Music Unlimited that also remove ads on Youtube now that it will be used for music as well). I use uBlock though in order to remove the numerous popup/popunder ads on some websites. These are just a pain in the ass without any justification (and most of the time are tied to suspicious offers).
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    I do mind them, because the most common use I have for YouTube is background music and short clips. A song is usually 3-4 minutes long, which makes the ad 12-16% as long as the content. Clips are even shorter, and the very disruption of my state of mind is annoying.
untog 12y ago
(google search, youtube, bing search - all use late load javascript to get misclicks). Of course, go back a year or so and everyone was screaming at ad providers for using blocking JavaScript.
- zo1 12y ago
  And what is stopping them from having the placeholders a specific size, instead of expanding them when the javascript finally loads/starts up? If that sort of thing was unfeasible to do then fine, I'll give you your point. But they have no excuse. So they're either just too lazy to do it properly (and enjoy the nice mis-clicks on ads) or they just like the mis-clicks on ads and did it purposefully.
  - untog 12y ago
    I'm not familiar with the systems, but I imagine that not knowing the eventual size of the ad would prohibit that. Or the fact that you'd have to have the user insert some HTML alongside your currently very simple <script> entry.
    - brador 12y ago
      Most likely A/B testing showed increased revenue on the page when they did the slimy javascript jump.

fragsworth 12y ago

It's definitely the people who are least inclined to install an ad blocker that could use it most. On the other hand, it takes a long time, but they do learn to be more cynical about the Internet if they're exposed to its raw state.

chatmasta 12y ago
It takes less than sixty seconds and requires nothing more than installing a browser extension.
- msabalau 12y ago
  The people who most need to do this don't know what a "browser" is, much less an "extension".
  - hashmymustache 12y ago
    And are still paying for AOL as it's the only way to get on the internet.
- radicaledward 12y ago
  I think they meant that it takes the users a long time to learn to be cynical.
  - chatmasta 12y ago
    This is a good point. I often take for granted how quickly I can recognize advertisement from non advertisement. I attribute most of it to spending my early days on the Internet reading marketing forums and running ad campaigns myself. Nowadays marketing is very subtle. Often you find yourself reading content and don't even realize somebody paid for that content to build their brand, drive traffic, etc. Look at recipe sites for example. If you watch your ad blocker count the ads, recipe sites always have one of the highest numbers. Who would ever think that if they didn't know what to look for? My rule of thumb is "if nobody would write this without getting paid for it, then somebody probably got paid for it."